Shatin: Gazebo Music

Description

Gazebo Music , for flute and cello, is a pastoral piece created for a site-specific dance on the grounds of Duke University, with the dancers wending their way up from woods, peeking over the railing of the gazebo where the performers were located, and ending with them lying on the branches of a huge magnolia tree. The piece was created as part of the Composer/Choreographer Workshop at the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC., with each of four composers collaborating with each of four choreographers. The performers, including flutist Dorothy Stone and cellist Erica Duke, were drawn from the LA-based E.A.R. Unit in residence for the program.

The intertwining of the flute and cello parts creates its own sonic choreography. The music, which begins with floating flute/cello chords, moves into a dance, by turns whimsical and piquant, before ending on a wave-like chordal rocking that comes gently to rest. Reviewers have singled out the way the music ‘…evokes nymphs, mysteries and pastoral magic…' (Theatre Scene Net), and the way in which ‘…the arch form and flowing music fit perfectly.' (Richmond Times Dispatch). Gazebo Music was recorded by flutist Patricia Spencer and cellist André Emilianoff of Da Capo Chamber Players on Dreamtigers , a Shatin portrait album on the Innova label (#613).